Women's Hoops Slides Past North Texas
Valeriya Berezhynska scored a game-high 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting in her season debut as the Rice women's basketball team came back to defeat North Texas 69-65 Saturday at the Winthrop Adidas Classic.

Rice Looking For Home CookingThe Owls host North Texas in Tudor Fieldhouse, after defeating Louisiana Tech 61-56 on Saturday in Ruston, La. Rice will be looking to snap a four-game home losing streak in the final Wednesday home contest of the season. The Owls have just three games remaining in the regular season before the C-USA Tournament begins on March 11 in El Paso. North Texas has lost their last four road contests and are coming off a 63-43 loss at Tulsa last Saturday.

Last Time OutJessica Kuster recorded her 11th straight double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds and Christal Porter notched her second double-double in her last three games to help the Owls pick up a much-needed 61-56 road victory at Louisiana Tech. The Owls held the Lady Techsters to just 28 percent shooting and improved to 11-4 when they outrebound their opponents, winning the battle on the glass, 50-42.

Series History/North Texas Scouting ReportRice holds a 2-1 edge in the overall series, although this will be the first time the two teams will meet as members of C-USA. In their previous meeting the Owls defeated North Texas 69-65 (11/10/07). The Mean Green are led offensively by sophomore forward Alexis Hyder (11 ppg) and junior forward Briesha Wynn (10.9 ppg). North Texas ranks fourth in C-USA in Def. 3-point FG% and fifth in total Def. FG%.

Kuster Is Double TroubleSenior Jessica Kuster (64 career double-doubles) is just one double-double shy from tying the C-USA career record currently held by TCU’s Sandora Irvin (65). Kuster has recorded a career-high 23 double-doubles this season and 11 in a row, which is tied for the 22nd-longest streak in NCAA Division I history. Another double-double would give Kuster the 17th-most double-doubles in a single season.

Protecting The Lead LateThe Owls hold a record of 11-0 when leading with five minutes left in regulation. On the flipside, Rice is 1-14 when trailing with less than five minutes to go and 2-11 when trailing entering halftime. The Owls hold a 9-2 mark when leading at the midway point.

Kuster Approaching 2,000 points/1,000 Rebound ClubJessica Kuster is already one of just six active players with over 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds and is now approaching even rarer company. Kuster, who is averaging a career-best 20.8 ppg, is just six points away from joining the 2,000-point, 1,000 rebound club. Coming into this season only 137 players had achieved the milestone in NCAA Division I history and only Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike, Middle Tennessee’s Ebony Rowe and Maryland’s Alyssa Thomas can lay claim to that company among active players. Kuster is also just 15 points away from breaking the Rice single-season scoring record of 555 points held by Pat Krieger in 1979-80.

Rebounds Lead To WinsThe recipe for success for the Owls this season can be found no further than how they fair on the boards. Rice holds a 11-4 record when they outrebound their opponent opposed to just a 1-10 mark when they fail to win the boards.